Why Warner Records Is Reinvigorating Reprise: ‘Artists Should Be Free to Be Exactly Who They Are

The music industry loves its history. The business is full of iconic names with decades of history: Columbia, Capitol, Atlantic, RCA, Warner and Island are all labels with venerable pasts and formidable presents, many of which are also associated with powerful and lauded founders and executives through the years. In the past year alone, several iconic imprints of the past have been revived such as Jive and Uptown , while the Virgin Music and Mercury Records brands have been relaunched to great success within the past half decade, to name a few.

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One of those iconic labels with an iconic founder is Reprise, founded by Frank Sinatra in 1960 and owned by Warner Records since 1963, which has in its long history been home to a glittering array of artists like Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Randy Newman, Ry Cooder and Neil Young, and more recently, Green Day, Deftones and Michael Bublé. But while its roster has always been diverse, the label has long kept to the ethos established by founder Sinatra and his longtime attorney and business partner Mickey Rudin , and set in stone by its longtime president and legendary Warner executive Mo Ostin : that artists came first, and that they should have control over their own careers.

Last December, Warner decided to reinvigorate Reprise by naming longtime A&R executive Jeff Sosnow as its president, under the purview of Warner Records co-chairman/CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck and co-chairman/COO Tom Corson . (Corson last week was also named COO of Warner Music Group .) Sosnow has a reputation as an artist-first A&R with wide-ranging taste: over the past dozen-plus years, he has signed the likes of Benson Boone, Rufus du Sol, Nessa Barrett, Billy Strings, Brandy Clark and The Neighbourhood, among others, to the Warner Records roster. Now, he’ll bring several of those artists with him over to Reprise, which will be home to Strings, Clark and Rufus du Sol in addition to Bublé, Josh Groban, Weezer, Deftones, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and The Linda Lindas, while Reprise will also remain the home of Young, who has remained on the roster since 1969.

“Reprise was built on the idea that artists should be free to be exactly who they are, with artist individuality and creative freedom at its core — without compromise,” Bay-Schuck says. “We saw an opportunity to reimagine the label for today’s landscape, creating a home for artists with distinctive voices, bold visions and long-term careers. I also believe it’s important to give artists choices. At Warner Records Group, every one of our brands has a unique perspective and Reprise was often one of the labels artists asked about when considering signing to Warner, so choosing to revitalize it was a no-brainer.”

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Now, Sosnow is gearing up to unveil the vision he’s had for Reprise since he was named its president eight months ago. Armed with a junior A&R exec and an assistant and backed by the broader Warner team, Sosnow is preparing to release new albums from Billy Strings, Weezer, the Linda Lindas and Young, as well as a big run of shows by Rufus Du Sol and a mandate to build out both his roster and his team. (He will remain executive vp of A&R at Warner in addition to his Reprise role.) “Our goal is for Reprise to continue being synonymous with groundbreaking artists and culturally-defining music,” Bay-Schuck says. “We want it to be a destination for artists who value originality, where careers are built with patience, ambition and a long-term vision. With Jeff at the helm, we’re confident Reprise will become one of the industry’s most dynamic creative engines for years to come.”

Here, Sosnow lays out what he’s hoping to achieve with Reprise, the influence that Ostin and longtime Warner executive and producer Lenny Waronker have had on him through his career, and the need to balance Reprise’s singular history with bringing the label into the future. “I’d like to believe that we can create something that not only makes the artist feel good and lives up to the promises that I hope that I make to them when I sign them, but will attract other artists, and we’ll grow from there,” Sosnow says. “All I’ve ever had as currency in signing [an artist] is honesty, and then ultimately hopefully you have a track record, and the artists speak well of their experiences. And if that happens, then Reprise will thrive, and we’re doing what we’re supposed to.”

Courtesy of Warner Records

Jesse Faatz

How did the opportunity to take on this role first come up for you?

They gave me an elevated role and a Reprise title some time ago in a previous regime, but the president thing was something that just came over time. I’ve somehow managed to persevere as an A&R man over three decades, which has become sort of an anomaly, and I think that Tom and Aaron, being the righteous leaders and gentlemen that they are, acknowledged that with this title, which I don’t take for granted. I think also it doesn’t hurt that I was fortunate enough to work for Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker at DreamWorks Records and I got to discuss Reprise and those nascent days with Mo, and I still am close with Lenny. So I take it really seriously, and I think Tom and Aaron want someone who understands the history and can protect that legacy and build on it.

What is it about Reprise that interested you?

I grew up collecting records and tapes and CDs and had a voracious, insatiabl...

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